Preps / High School Sports

Class 5A

Mountain Vista is taking this "beautiful game" thing to heart.

The top-seeded Golden Eagles (18-1), who have loads of Division I talent, spotted Fossil Ridge (14-3-2) a 1-0 lead Saturday in the first minute of play at All-City Stadium, then scored six consecutive goals and beat the Sabercats 6-2 to advance to the Class 5A state championship game Wednesday night at Dick's Sporting Goods Park.

"We're not used to that, obviously, being down," Mountain Vista coach Theresa Echtermeyer said. "But the Fort Collins game (a 3-2 victory for the Eagles in the quarterfinals) put us through some tough times, and that was good for us."

During pregame warm-ups, Eagles starting goalkeeper Danielle Cushing hit her head on a goalpost and backup Torell Stewart, who usually splits playing time with Cushing, was thrown into full-game action.

After giving up the opening goal to Fossil Ridge's Grace Cutler, Stewart settled down and finished with seven saves.

Freshman Mallory Pugh was one of the many offensive stars for Mountain Vista. She contributed three goals.

(3) Rock Canyon 2, (2) Legacy 0. It took a little longer than the Jaguars would have liked — having to endure a lightning delay and then an unfortunate injury to a Lightning player — but they made it an all-Continental League/Highlands Ranch final against Mountain Vista on Wednesday night.

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"We've been talking a lot about focus and especially on an evening like this, that bit of practice really helped out," said Rock Canyon coach Mat Henbest, whose team lost to Mountain Vista 2-0 in league play. "We didn't make that critical mistake that could happen."

The Jags (16-1-1) jumped on the Lightning in the first five minutes. Defender Erin Webb was on the doorstep and headed home a cross. Rock Canyon would go up 2-0 before halftime on a goal from junior Kaycie Young.

Henbest isn't going to give away any secrets about Wednesday night, but is excited for the opportunity to have another shot at the Golden Eagles.

"I think we learned a lot from that game, and that has always been in the back of our mind that we might get a chance to see them again," he said. "There is a lot to handle, they are a phenomenal team and we are going to have to play our best."

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